Towel holder



June 16, 1931. c, w THOMPSON 1,809,918

TOWEL HOLDER Filed March 15. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l III] Ill 1 Inmate r,

CharlesWThompwn; A mugr flw l Patented June 1 6 ,1931 i g i ITheohjectof this invention is thecohstruc- 11b and the opposite end topulley f i u 30 i i The towel holding c'aseof Fig; 8, (30nsistsj ofteriorof a cabinet embodyingvmy invention; Fig; 2 is a side'sectionalelevation; ofthe same;

*ble length, of toweling jat' its midl'ength there by attachingtwoto-welsto thecarriei' witha ti'on ofsa cahinetor holder whereinseveral hundred towels canybe; disposed for conven ient individual"use=:until-;t-he last one; is-

reached. In carryingmy lHVQDtlOIlTiIltQf feet, the towels are arranged.in groups each consisting: of about fifty towels permanently attached toa fahric carrier-side byside, and

all piledupon a yieldingly'supportedshelf by which they are pressedhpto:present the topmost towelinto convenient reach of its user; this shelfbeing located intone vertical chamber of the cabinet, fand theusedtowels e e ing into the--other verticallchamb thereof. A x

In the drawings forining part of this spec} j fication, Fig. 1 is aperspective view-of the ex- Fig. 3 is a side sectional 'elevation ofthe-up per part of the'eahinet showing 1 one of the operative elementsa1" difierent posit-ion. Fig; e is a frontksectienal elevation:of thecabinet. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of pne of the towel-groups; Fig; 6is-i a side View thereof; t Fig. ,7 'is v a sectional 1 detail --viewshowing the preferred means" for zyieldingly supporting hthe shelf,-Fig, Sjis; aside secs tional elevationi'of a simplified form of theinvention.

sides 1 back 2, abbreviated front 3, floor- 4, a

verticalpartition 5 separating the cabinet into chambers 6 and 7,": anda hinged coverf 9 for thjechambenfl Within the chamber 7 is g,hefliotrti Cally slidahle thereinandresiliently supported by meansofsash-springs 11 of well known form attached to the underside go ftheshelf, and having their pring-terminals 12 attached tothe-sides iofithechambei as shown in Fig. 7,-elose1-tothe top -of the ;cha mher;These sashrsprin-gs. ll consist of-apulley 11a rotatably mounted on aspindle" 11b. jUpo'n" the voutside of" said" pulley llgz is; {coiled thetape llc eneendiofwhich isfastened; to said pulley and theother 'endtothe side 1; ,;.of the towel holding ease as shown at 1-2. Within'.' thepulley 11a is ja coiled spring lldg i-oneend.

of which is fastenedin the usualwayfto the at each c'orner'of the shelf,and made offsuf- 7 ficient istrlengthio: ,Iiiore than sustaini the TthexsurroundingChamberwalls; i

The towels 15am inhunch'es attached to a "weight of thetowels The topedges, of this shelf are cut awayinorder toens'ure against 7 thetowelswed'ging inbetween'theshelfand fabriccarrie'r asshowninfFigs. 5and 6:

Iprefer to describe the towels as GilCll'fittached atone end to thecarrier-and folded v actual'practice to, stitch to the carrieraTdousinglei-lineof stitching. 1 a

Theffibfic carriers 16 have their ends ex :te'nd beyond the'towelsasfshowninFigs; 5 I and :6, f these-extensions (or-flaps being p,ro-; vvided with means; for fastening one bunch over at midlen-gth tojpresentits free end close to the carrier; although I find it simpler in toanother! ,The fastening means preferred consist "of wellknown forms of,curtainifass teners 19 carried by one flap and eyes 20' in theotherflapi'f The front rec'ess of the shelf fasteners, until theshelffisj alm'ost'incontact withwthe floor 4,;th enthe door Sis-swungready foruse v To produce a towel, the free end of the topmostone whichreaches'just'heyond the frontedge of, the' cover"9,-i-s grasped andpulled I'u-ntil: the full length} of the towel is f releasedil i Afteruseifthe towelfis allowed to used; thespringshelfflri$s, and the chainofseiled towels descends the chamber 6, until [the entire number isexhausted: Then 7 down upon the, topmost towels zindfasteiied, ashy'the1ocks'21 shown n F g- 1& h d t pilefofj towels down :in'place; thecabinet is 'hang, inthechamber 6. "As more towels are 7 the towels arereleased from the fasteners 19 of the shelf 10, removed from the chamber6 and carried to the laundry.

At the laundry, the bunches of towels are released from each other andwashed inde towels down against the upward push of the spring shelf, andto protect them from dust.

I have found that it is advisable to roughen i the top surface of theshelf 10, as by afiixing sandpaper thereto, in order that when the shelfhas been nearly emptied, a pull upon the topmost one therein will notwithdraw all the remaining ones atthe same time.

With this arrangement, I am enabled to carry a supply of between fourhundred and five hundred towels fully protected until used. c The uppersection of the chamber 6 is cut away at an angle in orderto give freeaccess to the towels as each is being used.

Although I have described thetowels as stitched to the carrier all theway across, I find this is not absolutely necessary but they may bestitched for a part-of the distance; an by stitching one towel from oneedge, and theadjacent one from the opposite edge, two towels can be usedsimultaneously by two persons side by side.

The only trouble with the construction above described is that thesoiled towels are exposed to view. To obviate this defect, I constructthe cabinet as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, wherein each towel after its useis drawn down out of sight. For this purpose, the chamber 6 ispermanently enclosed by a curved front 25, and has a door 26 in itslower front for the removal of the used towels,

and the cover 9 has an opening 27 above the top edge of the partition 5.

After a towel has been withdrawn and used, it is permitted to fall uponthe curved front 25, its inner end being, of course, still attached withthe others to its carrier 16. To enable such towel to be drawn downthrough the opening 27 out of sight, a horizontal rod 29 carried by arms30 pivotally supported by the cabinet sides at 31, is swung up to aposition close to the rear edge of the opening 27, as indicated by thedotted lines in Fig. 2, so that, when the end of the topmost towel isseized to be withdrawn through this opening, it will be pulled outbeneath the rod. Then, when the rod is forced down to its normalposition shown in full lines in Fig. 2, this towel will be carried downwith the rod to hang suspended within the chamber 6. i I

For the actuation of the arms 30, they are connected by rods32 withlevers 33 pivot ally supported by the sidesl at 34, the front ends ofthe levers being connected by rods 35 with a treadle 36 near the bottomof the case, whereby a depression of the treadle will swing the rod 29up to its uppermost position, and a release of the treadle will rmit itto descend; tension springs 37 bemg provided for aiding the lattermovement. 11 order normally to keep the opening 27 closed, a sheet metalgate 40 is provided which is supported on arms 41 pivoted at 31 andretained closed by springs 42. When the arms 30 are swung up to presentthe rod 29 in its upper position, the arms 41 and gate 40 are pressedback to leave the opening 27 clear.

In this preferred form of the invention, the partition 5 does notdescend to the floor 4, but leaves spacebeneath it for the accumulatingused towels to spread over into the chamber 7, after the shelf 10 hasrisen in proportion. The partition does not connect at its edges withthe sides 1 throughout its height, but at its lower portion only, inorder to allow spaces for the parts 30, 33, and 41. A thin artitionspaced from each side 1, as 44 in ig. 4, may be provided for keeping thetowels from interference with such parts.

Iprefer to have the plate 40 hinged to the arms 41 at 45, and to haveits outer edge remain between the cover 9 and the board 46 7 againstwhich the pile of towels is upwardly pressed; the arms 41 being actuatedby means of rods 47 connected with the levers 33. The cover 9 beinghinged at 48 to the curved front 25, when itis opened it'swings up withit the plate 40 and thereby removes the latter out of interference withthe introduction of the clean towels into the chamber 7. By thus controllingthe arms 41 and plate 40, the latter does not start to return tonormal until after the rod 29 has moved away therefrom.

.An oil plunger resistance 49 of well known construction is provided forkeeping the rod 29 from a too sudden return to normal.

Instead of having the shelf 10 fitting the sides of the chamber 7, asshown in Fig. 8, it is slidably controlled by vertical ways 50; and twoonly of the sash springs 11 are provided.

a What I claim as my invention is:

1. A towel holder comprising a case to hold clean and used towels, meansdividing said case into separate compartments alongside each other forsaid clean and used towels, supporting shelf means adapted to forceclean towels upwardly in said case, and means to draw used towelsdownwardly in said case,

said last-mentioned means embodying a lever located outside of saidcase. p

' 2. A towel holder comprising a case having a chamber for individualclean towels and another chamber for used towels. shelf means to supportclean towels adapted to be automatically actuated by the act of the userin withdrawing a towel to thereby force clean towels upwardly insaid-case, and means to draw said towels downwardly, after being fwhereby a towel may be withdrawn through said opening in such a positionthat when said rodmoves away from said opening it. will: draw thelatter-mentioned towel into used, into said chamber for used towels. I

3. A towel holder comprising a case embodying a clean towel chamberand aused 1 towel. chamber, a cover for said cleantowel Chamber, means toforce said clean towels upwardly against said cover, said case having anopening adjacent said cover through" which a clean towel may be drawn, agate for said opening, means to open said gate when a clean towel isdesired, and mechanism to draw a used towel downwardly after it is used.

4. A towel holder comprising a case embodying a' clean towel chamber anda used towel chamber, a coverfor said cleantowel chamber, means to forcesaid clean towels up-' anism to draw said used towel downwardly.

5. A. towel holder comprising a case, a cover for saidcase, said casehaving an opening through which a clean towel may be drawn, an armsupported by said case, a rod attached .to said arm, means for swingingsaid arm to present said rod ad acent sa1dopening, means for movingtowels within the case towards said cover whereby the topmost towel maybe withdrawn through said opening in sucha position that when said.Ifod.

moves away from said opening the towel withdrawn will be drawn into saidcase by said rod.

6. A towel holder comprising a case, a cover for said case, said casehavingan opening'through which a cleantowel may be drawn,a gate for saidopening, an armsupported by said case, a rod attached to said arm, meansfor swinging said arm topresent said rod ad a-cent sald opemng, meansfor moving towels wlthin the case towards SELlCl cover wherebythctopmost towel be withdrawn through said opening in such a positionthatwhen said rod moves away rod movesaway from said opening.

7. A towel holder comprlsmg. a case d1- case having an openingthroughwhich a towel may be drawn, a plurality of arms piv' otally supported bysaid case, a horizontal rod connected to said arms; means to swing saidarms to present sald rod ad acent said opening, means for moving towelswithin one 0t said chambers toward said cover one of said chambers.

8. A towelholder" comprising a two-chamhere d case, one chamber for,clean towels and I one for used towels, a shelf slidable in one of saidchambers, a cover for sald latter chamber, means for counterbalancingsaid shelf against the weight of a multiplicity of towels laid thereonwhereby as one of said towels is withdrawn the pile moves upwardly andcomes n contact with sald cover, said means embodying a sash springs 9.A towel'holder comprising a. case di vided into two chambers by avertical partition, a cover closing the top of the rear of said,chambers, an opening being provided above the; top ofsaidpartition, armspivotally supported by the case having a horizon;

vtal rod heldv at their free ends, means for the swinging of said armsto present said rod close beyond sald'opening, and means for pressingapile of towelswithin the rear chamber up to said cover, whereby thetopmost towel can be withdrawn through said opening beneath said rodwhenthe latter is in its u .ermost iosition and after use can .be draggeddown within the front ofsaid chambers bythe' return of said rod to nor-}ing, adaptedtobe moved away from the V latter when the horizontal rodswings to its uppermostposition, and toreturn when the rod swings back,to normal. 11.. A towel holder as set forth in claim 9, whereina gateis provided for closing said opening, and swinging arms for carryingsaid gate.

12.. A towel holder as set forth in claim 9, wherein the verticalpartition is spaced *lIlVQIliZiOIl I'llIVB hereunto set my hand this28thfdayof January, 1928. I CHARLESW. THOMPSON.

vided into a plurality ofchambers by a partition, a cover for one ofsaid chambers, said

